Babylon arts festival aims to show LI isn't just 'pizza, bagels and a beach'

Jose Tutiven and Harper Bella want to create a new destination for the arts, right in your backyard. 

The local artists believe Long Island for too long has been ignored as a creative hub, and curated an arts festival that launched this month in North Babylon's Phelps Lane Park with change in mind.

If people become aware of the local arts scene, they can “see what Long Island offers” and find out “there’s more than just pizza, bagels and a beach here,” Bella, who lives in Amityville, said in an interview.  

“We’re still playing little brother to Manhattan and the boroughs,” said Tutiven, 30, of Bay Shore.

The Long Island Public Arts Festival, which runs through August, features paintings and photographs from 25 area artists. The artwork is displayed near the park's Elda Lake on mesh that is attached to nine, three-sided prisms with metal frames. The installation also features QR codes so visitors can find out more about the artists and their work.

Tutiven and Bella have been working with the nonprofit Babylon Citizens Council on the Arts for two years to create public arts events as part of a grant from Creatives Rebuild New York, a state initiative that supports employment opportunities for artists.

The nonprofit's director, Liz Mirarchi, said her arts organization and Babylon Town are the festival's sponsors. Through an open call that yielded submissions from 49 people, Tutiven and Bella selected artwork with an eye toward putting a spotlight on the region's diverse collection of artists.

Tutiven, who is from Ecuador, and Bella, who spent her early years in the Caribbean, said having perspectives from artists who hail from both near and far also was important to them.

“I think there’s a difference between being born here and living on Long Island your entire life and then coming into Long Island as a newcomer,” Bella said. “If you’ve lived in another country, there’s something you have to offer and I want to hear what you have to say.”

The pair, who hope to make the festival an annual event, said they believe their selection of creatives also embodies a cross-section of age and race.

“I think they represent community, I think they represent diversity and just different voices on Long Island in general,” Tutiven said. “This is what the art scene should be and what it actually looks like.”

Several of the artists featured in the festival said they hope visitors will be able to relate to their deeply personal work.

Jennifer Suarez, 23, of Mastic Beach, has three paintings on exhibit, two of which she said are an expression of her Puerto Rican heritage, including elements of native Taino culture.

“Hopefully there’s people out there who see them and feel like their culture is also being embraced,” she said.

Rae Cerulean, 27, of Lindenhurst, who is trans non-binary, has two pieces in the festival.

One illustrates Cerulean's experience with mental health issues, according to the artist. They said the other entry is inspired by the colors of the transgender pride flag and represents different gender experiences.

“If a kid is in the park not feeling supported by their family and they know that they’re gay or trans and they see it, maybe they’ll feel a little bit of comfort and safety,” Cerulean said.

Cerulean added that it's exciting to see more people having access to art in local public spaces.

“A lot of times we have to go into the city for these kinds of things and Long Island is very capable of having an arts scene,” they said. “There is culture here, there are creatives here.”

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.